The Hunter and The Duck
by mockingpottervictorious
Summary: Gale Hawthorne and Primrose Everdeen as tributes for the 74th Anual Hunger Games instead of Katniss and Peeta.


Forty two of the names in the boys bowl are mine. Printed in clear, block capitals - GALE HAWTHORNE.

I can see Katniss across in the girls crowd, looking down at the ground, waiting for Effie to call out the girl's tribute for Distrcit 12 but i know it wont be her. It's too predictable, us being so happy in the morning then everything being ruined in an instant. No, it won't be Katniss.

I have an imense love for Katniss, i think she knows. Her brunette hair comes from her father a miner, who was killed in a mine explosion and it is one of my favourite things about her. It makes us sometimes pass as cousins, we share the same olive skin that hasnt seen a hot day in years and the same chapped lips from being out in the cold, day after day, hunting the animals that pass. Her sister is stood a couple crowds infront, the complete opposite to Katniss and more like her mother. Prim has pale white skin and blonde hair, with delicate, light fingers for healing and caring for her animals that give her milk and name is in there once.

Forty two is a big number.

Wiley, who is stood next to me and is short in stature but hench and has broad shoulders is in there only once, he told me when we were at The Hob yesterday. The odds are in his favour.

My face darkens as Katniss looks into my eyes from across the audience, i can tell she wants to hold my hand and tell me it won't be me when it comes to the boys but i know there's a good chance it will be. Effie Trinket walks over to the giant fishbowl and plucks out a female name, digging in deep so it doesnt look staged. I hold my breath and resist the urge to look at Katniss, waiting for her reaction. Effie smoothes out the paper and clearly reads the name into the microphone:

"Primrose Everdeen."

My heart stops and i instantly turn to find little Prim in the crowd but i cannot, until smaller twelve year olds move to make a path for her to walk away from them and into the hands of the Capitol. "Prim..." I whisper but i wanted it to be a shout, why couldn't i shout out to her?! What was stopping me?! Suddenly i hear Katniss scream out in a strangled cry, "Prim!" And push the girls out the way so she is now standing in the aisle as Prim walks into the empty space, for everyone to see her tuck the back of her shirt in that formed a duck tail.

Katniss calls out again and Prim turns around but cries as the Peace Keepers hold her back from running. Katniss is trying to say something, i can see it, it is like when she is at The Hob tasting a vile stew and is trying to find the words to describe it.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as Tribute!" She shouts at Effie who is stood adjusting her white wig while the chilldren that Prim goes to school with cry into each other's shoulders. No Katniss, no... I can't lose Katniss.

A Peacekeeper then shakes his head, "Amended rules, you may only volunteer if you are within the same age range."

Katniss screams at him, reaching out her hand for Prim to hold but she is restrained by Peace Keepers, "I'm 16! Please!"

"You must be between 12 and 14 to volunteer for Primrose."

My gut tightens as Katniss is stood open mouthed, looking at me to help her but i don't know what to do... Prim is crying as she is forced to walk to the stage where Effie ironically holds her hand comfortingly and stares at me. I am presumably frowning but i can't tell, all i feel is guilt.

Katniss is pushed back into her section and she glares at me, angry i didnt stop Prim going up or help her to volunteer. I look at the floor, ashamed. I'm sorry Catnip...

Effie then moves on, "Right then, now for the boys... Peeta Mellark!" The bakers boy. The boy i see watching Katniss when Prim puts daisies into her braid and she looks beautiful. The boy that i watched get beaten up because he dropped a fresh order of twenty loafs of bread but didnt help him. I owed him a favour.

I am sudenly calling out, top of my lungs, "I volunteer as Tribute!" And i feel Katniss' eyes burning into the side of my head. A Peacekeeper nods at me as i go to walk onto the stage, guessing my age, and Peeta looks confused, i hear him mumble, amazed at how he has been spared this year, "Thank you..." I am unsure he knows who i am.

I step up and Prim runs to me, so i lift her and hold her against me, protectively, as i did to Katniss when a bear stood up on his hind legs one time when we were hunting. Effie taps me on the back and whispers, "What's your name handsome?"

I scoff but reply anyhow, "Gale Hawthorne..."

"Gale Hawthorne! Our very first male volunteer!" She exclaims into the microphone. I see Katniss' lip tremble as she watches the two people she loves most on stage, about to take part in the most terrible competition ever invented. Prim smiles a little when i look down at her pale face, decorated with strands of her light blonde hair that have pulled themselves free of the braids she'd had this morning and i suddenly feel it is my duty to protect her.


End file.
